


Devoted: A Bates Motel Reimagining

by Eds_Lorraine



Category: Bates Motel (2013)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 18:29:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12371535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eds_Lorraine/pseuds/Eds_Lorraine
Summary: [This is a reimagining/Alternate Universe of the TV show "Bates Motel" on A&E with the addition of two characters: Loretta Massett and Mellie Bates. This is *NOT* canon. However, I am trying to the best of my ability to follow the show's initial plot, the only changes will be due to the new characters.]Four years after moving out with her sixteen-year-old half-sister, Mellie, twenty-two-year-old Loretta Massett decides to give her mother, Norma, a second chance after having received a call saying she's starting her life over. It's not long, however, before Loretta and Mellie realize they've gotten way more than they've bargained for.





	1. "First You Dream and Then You Die"

"Mom, I'm eighteen now. I'm taking Mel and we're leaving."

"I don't want that!"

"She deserves better than this and so do you! Come with us!"

"I can't."

"Fine, but I'm not letting her grow up around Sam, you hear me? I'd take Norman too but he won't leave you. If you ever change your mind, call me. Mom, you deserve better than this life."

***

 

Loretta Massett looked over at her sister Mellie as they drove down the long and twisting roads of the coast of Oregon. They'd finally gotten the call that Lottie had been waiting for for a very long time. Their mother, Norma, was starting her life over with their brother, Norman, and she wanted to see them. It would be the first time in four years. Norma's previous husband had not been a good man and upon Lottie's eighteenth birthday, she'd packed her bags along with her little sister's and left. Loretta wasn't about to give Mellie over to that monster. Lottie had no affection for Sam Bates, drunk bastard that he was. Between him and her birth-father, John Massett, Lottie had learned the hard way that considering herself fatherless was better than thinking of them as fathers at all. But Norma... Norma was different, Lottie had always loved her mother. As many terrible decisions the woman seemed to make, she tried hard and never gave up. To Lottie, that counted for something. That's why she was giving her a second chance and that's why her and Mellie were on this trip. Maybe it would be a second chance for themselves as well. She hoped it would be, she knew as hard as she tried, she could never give her sister the home she deserved.

"Hey, you okay?" Lottie asked. Her sister had been silent a good portion of the trip, which was unlike her. "Come on, Mels, out with it. You're far too quiet."

Lottie gave her sister a little, reassuring smile as the girl next to her looked up from her gaze out the window. "Dunno, I guess I'm just nervous." She replied with a sigh.

Lottie patted her sister's hand and looked back at the road. "We're going to be fine. Even if this doesn't work out the way we hope... We have each other always okay?"

"Okay." Mellie replied, smiling a little. "Can we at least jam out? This drive is so fucking boring."

Lottie burst into laughter and reached for the radio controls. "Fuck yes we can."

***

"They can't find out, Norman." Norma said as she sat on a motel room bed, her son not far from her. "We'll set them up in the house and sneak down tonight to dump the body. They can not find out."

She was determined. Everything had changed since she'd called her older daughter. She'd been attacked, raped, she'd killed a man, and all within a few hours. It was bad enough Norman had seen it happen, she didn't want to scare away the rest of her family. Not now. Not when she was about to get them back. "If Loretta finds out she'll up and leave with Mellie immediately, I'm sure of it." She continued.

"Well they already left once, what makes you think they're going to stay anyway?" Norman asked indignantly.

He wasn't a fan of any of his siblings, but especially not Loretta. As far as he was concerned she'd abandoned him and Norma. She's always been rough too. Opinionated, to say the least. She'd always stand up to his father and usually their mother had to pay for it later. She paid for it when they left too, in more ways than one. And, to Norman, mother was always the most important. Circumstance didn't matter. He didn't care much that Loretta had tried to get Norma and him to go with her. She didn't take them and therefore, was no better than her twin brother Dylan, who had a deep seated hatred for their mother.

Norma looked up at him. "Well they're coming and I'm not letting this asshole blow our chance at starting over. And by 'our' I mean all of us."

She said it with a rough not-taking-your-shit voice. She loved Norman with all her heart but sometimes he grated on her, especially when she had so much on her mind.

The sound of a car on gravel and loud bass drifted in through the motel room window which caused Norma to look out the window. There they were. Two girls, jamming out in the front seat of a really old, beat up looking jeep as it pulled up. A smile lit up the woman's face. "Norman, they're here! Come on, let's forget about all this for a while, okay?"

Mellie turned off the radio and looked around at the two buildings before them. "This place looks like shit and that house looks haunted." She said, glancing at her sister.

Lottie laughed. "Mom probably thinks it's paradise. Knowing her she'll either make it paradise or screw it up."

It was just then that Norma burst out of the motel room and was now, as they spoke, running towards the car. "My girls!" She squealed, opening Mellie's door.

As soon as her youngest was out she had her wrapped in her arms, tears in her eyes. "Oh my God! You're so tall!" She laughed, squeezing her again like she'd never let go.

Lottie got out and walked around, smiling at the reunion. It felt really good to see her mother, but even better to see her with her arms around her baby sister. She glanced towards where her mother had come. There stood her brother, Norman. Lottie's eyes immediately narrowed. She'd never liked her brother, he was prissy and off somehow. She couldn't explain it, but her mother adored him so she'd always tolerated him. "Hi Norman." She said, her tone even but with a small hint of distain which he likely noted, since he only nodded in return.

Norma looked up then at her older daughter and grinned. "Oh Lottie, look at you! You're a woman!" She exclaimed, a couple tears actually starting to come down as she hugged her eldest daughter for the first time since they said goodbye four years prior.

"Hey Mom." She said, squeezing her tightly. "It's good to see you."

Norma's voice went very quiet as she pressed her face next to her daughter's ear and whispered so only Lottie could hear, "I'm sorry."

Lottie closed her eyes and pulled her mother away at the shoulder, smiling sadly and nodding slightly, a sign that, at least for now, the past was in the past. "You look amazing, Mom. Really. It's so nice to see you happy."

"Yes, well I'm the owner of this beautiful motel, what's not the be happy about?" She asked with a laugh as she quickly wiped a stray tear.

"It's an... interesting place." Lottie said, trying to be kind as she looked at the motel. It looked like something off the set of the Walking Dead, if she was to be quite honest.

"It looks like crap." Mellie said bluntly, causing her sister to bite her lip to keep from laughing. "Really, if this place ever looks like it doesn't have bedbugs it will be a miracle."

Norma's smile turned sarcastic. "Well, she does take after you with her attitude, doesn't she, Loretta?"

Lottie shrugged and chucked, "I thought she got it from you!"

Norma shook her head and started towards the house. "Come on, let's get you settled in! I have rooms for each of you."

Lottie didn't follow and it caused Norma to stop and turn. "Well what are you waiting for?" She asked, her smile fading a little.

"I don't know, I guess I just assumed you were putting us in the motel. I mean, that's where you came from."

Norma's smile was gone in an instant. "Of course you're not staying in the motel! That's ridiculous. This is your home now, isn't it? Norman and I were just... decorating." She said quickly.

Loretta thought it was a bit too quickly. Her mother had never been a good liar, but just this once she decided not to question it. "Alright, well let me just get our bags."

Norma clucked and looked at Norman, who was just standing there awkwardly with his hands in his pockets like some kind of young child, despite his age being seventeen. "Norman will get the bags, won't you Norman?" She said, giving him a look that Lottie knew meant business, a look that she'd missed seeing if she'd been quite honest.

The boy sighed and went to grab the bags strapped to the roof of the jeep and as Lottie started towards the steps which lead to the house, she could have sworn she heard him mutter something aggressively under his breath.

***

Mellie couldn't sleep. Her new, rather large room was far too quiet and comfortable. She'd never quite known comfort. When she'd been living with her parents, the constant yelling had kept her usually in her room, hoping that Sam didn't barge in in a rage. Even once Lottie got her out of there, their living arrangements had never been satisfactory. Lottie did her best, but money was always tight. Their last place was a simple one room flat next to a busy street and below tenants who were constantly getting into drunken arguments at night and making a ruckus. Quiet was not a thing, not in her life.

So when she was laying there, here ears were attuned to every sound that was made, the lilt of the breeze against the window, the sound of fall leaves lightly flicking the house as they were blown on a collision course with it... and the pair of footsteps that, just around midnight, had crept slowly down the stairs and disappeared with the creaking of the front door. Mellie was naturally a curious critter, so as soon as she thought the coast was clear, she snuck down the stairs as well to the window by the door to see what was going on. She got there just in time to see her mother and brother slam the trunk to Norma's pale green car, get in, and drive off wildly. She bit her lip with thought. What the hell could they possibly be doing out at this time of night? She didn't have much time to think as a voice came from behind her.

"Mel? Mel it's past midnight, what are you doing peeping out the window?"

It was Loretta, standing there at the top of the stairs with a rather tired and annoyed look on her face. Loretta was not one who reacted all that well to being woken up, likely because she wasn't used to getting much sleep. "Come on back up and get some sleep, alright? Do you need water or something?"

Mellie shook her head. "Get down here, there's something weird going on." She said with a tone that Lottie trusted meant it was important.

She tripped down the stairs in her baggy sweatpants and sweatshirt which she'd been sleeping in so she could look out the window too. For a moment she just gazed out, then gave her sister a sideways glance. "I don't see anything, what am I suppose to be seeing?"

"It's what you aren't seeing that's important."

"Oh come on, Mels, this time of night is no time for riddles." Loretta whined rubbing her right eye with exhaustion.

"Mom and Norman just left. See? The car is gone! They put something in the trunk too. I saw them close it. They were being really quiet, whispering and stuff."

Lottie's mind started cranking like that of an old rusty clock which had just been wound. She remembered how oddly her mother had reacted to her asking about why her and Norman had been in the motel when they came. Were they hiding something? Despite her thoughts, she simply shook her head. "I'm sure it's nothing. I'm sure there's a good explanation. We won't know it till we can ask so we might as well get some sleep." She smiled reassuringly at her sister, keeping her slight anxiety to herself.

"You're worried about Mom, aren't you?" The younger sister asked.

"Why did she have to be so goddamn intuitive?" Loretta thought to herself before replying. "Yes, I am worried about Mom. I'm always worried about Mom. And you. Like the fact tomorrow you're having your first day at a new school and you haven't slept a wink!"

"I don't want to go to school." Mellie replied as Loretta pushed her up the tall, vintage style staircase.

"I don't blame you, but you're going. You're getting everything I didn't get, including a proper education!" Lottie huffed.

"What if I want to be just like you instead?" The girl sassed back once they were at the top of the stairs.

"I'd wager to say you're a little too much like me already!" Loretta chuckled. "Now go on, get some sleep because you're going to school tomorrow, I don't care if Noah shows up at the door and says there's going to be a flood. You're going."

"You suck." Mellie said as they began to retreat to their separate rooms.

"Oh I know I do, but trust me, you'll thank me later for sucking." The elder sister laughed as she quietly shut her door.

She sat down on her bed and listened for the front door to open again. She was not waiting till morning to ask her mother what the hell was going on. Patience was not one of her virtues.

***

As Norma shut the door behind her, she sighed with relief. The deed was done, the body sunk into oblivion. She watched as her son retreated up the stairs and to his room. Instead of following, she made her way to the kitchen and started heating the tea kettle. As she leaned against the stove, her ears registered a shuffling sound coming from behind her. She looked up to see her elder daughter standing there, her arms crossed. "Mom, what's going on?"

Norma's eyes went slightly narrow as she looked down at the kettle. She could see herself in the reflection and it bothered her so she looked away from that as well, focusing on the window nearby. "I don't know what you mean, I'm just getting some late-night tea."

"Bullshit. Something's going on. Mel saw you put something in the trunk of your car and high-tail. Any other time I wouldn't be so worried but it was past midnight, Mom. It's two o'clock now and you've only just gotten back!" Loretta said all this in a low tone. She did not want her siblings hearing a row between her mother and her.

Norma looked her daughter in the eye and answered. "We were just finishing up some renovations on the motel, honestly."

Lottie's eyes narrowed. She didn't believe her mother. She didn't know what to think and it aggravated her. She watched as Norma went to grab a tea cup from the cupboard. The girl had not noticed before the bandage that was carefully wrapped around her mother's dainty hand. "Mom! What the hell happened to your hand?" She asked, stepping forward and taking it carefully to inspect it.

She only had it snatched from her. "Nothing! Why are you asking so many questions? You sound like your twin!" Norma exclaimed.

Norma knew that was a soft spot. Unlike twins in the movies, Lottie and her brother Dylan had never seen eye to eye. They had always clashed, even as children. Dylan had always been critical and whiny in Lottie's eyes, where Lottie was far too sharp and dogmatic for him. "I'm nothing like Dylan, Mom. I'm just damn concerned that we're back less than twenty-four hours and you're already lying to me! What is it with you and a goddamn aversion to the truth? I can never tell with you what to believe!" Lottie put her head in her hand. "You know what, fine. I can't handle this tonight."

The elder daughter turned to head back to her room when she felt a hand grab hers. She turned to see her mother, her eyes brimming with tears. "Just... Just trust me okay? Trust that I have everything under control. Please, Lottie?"   
Lottie thought for a moment. Should she trust her mother? The woman who always seemed to make the worst mistakes? The woman who had brought her into the hands of Sam Bates? As much as Loretta loved her, she knew Norma's judgement wasn't always perfect and sometimes it scared her. But despite all the thoughts and little red flags in her mind, she nodded slowly, looking into those sad blue eyes. "Okay Mom... I'm trusting you. For now." She said softly. "You know what, I think I need a tea too. Can't remember the last time I had tea that wasn't the shitty stuff you get at a gas station."

Norma smiled a little, her eyes drying as she turned back to the pot. "You're lucky, I put in just enough for two."

As the older woman looked back at the teapot, there were two reflections, hers and her daughter's. Suddenly she felt a hell of a lot less alone.


	2. Nice Town You Picked, Norma

"Lottie, you were working really late."

"I picked up some extra shifts, Mels, that's all."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure, now get to sleep! It's way past any reasonable bedtime!"

***

The next morning, Loretta got out of the shower to the sound of voices downstairs. One was her mother, she could tell, one Norman, but the third was different. Familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on how. She quickly threw on a shirt and a pair of jeans before hurrying downstairs to see what all the fuss was and who had invaded their kitchen at such an earlier hour.

She stopped when she saw him. Dylan. Her brother. He was leaning against the counter with a mug and a sloppily-made sandwich. Their mother was not far away, glaring him down as he spoke, Norman just behind her. "Because that's what normal people do, Norma, when they've lost their job, and they've got no money and no place to stay. They go home." He just finished saying as Lottie rounded the corner.

It took less than a moment for her voice to lilt through the air. "Oh so you only consider Mom to be your home when you're shit out of luck and need money?"

Dylan turned to see his twin standing there, water still dripping off her damp ringlets and her hands on her hips. Her face would have been enough to stop a raging bull, if the bull were smart. Dylan turned to his mother. "So you told everyone except me where you were moving?"

Norma's face was still cold. "Your sister wanted to be contacted, Dylan, unlike you." She replied. "She's been supportive of me."

"Yeah, maybe because she turned out just like you. I hope you're proud, Norma." He said, looking at his sister. "As for you, you wouldn't call yourself shit out of luck?"

"No, because for one, I'm not an asshole." Lottie replied, her eyes hot with anger. "And for two, I already have a job lined up here. Unlike some people who can never seem to keep a job more than a week."

The word job perked Norma's interest and her eyes moved from her elder son to her elder daughter. "You got a job?"   
Lottie nodded. "Yeah, I'll be paying rent too. I'm not a freeloader." she added the last part while glaring intently at her twin, a small smirk of satisfaction on her lips. "Anyway, I am taking Mellie to school. I'll be back soon, Mom."

"Why doesn't she just go with me?" Norman asked, standing up straight as Loretta grabbed her keys from the counter where she'd left them the day before.

"I'd rather take her myself, since it's her first day." Lottie said, quickly, secretly not wanting her little sister waiting at a bus stop with her brother. She brushed against Dylan roughly, a slight sign of dominance before she walked towards the stairs, calling down her sister.

Dylan's eyes followed her, then looked back at his mother. He took the bottle of milk on the counter, poured some in his coffee, and walked off with only the words, "We're all out of cream." 

***

"Who were you talking to in the kitchen?" Mellie asked on the ride. She knew her sister was tense. As much as Lottie tried to hide, she was pretty shit at it.

Loretta looked over at her sister and gave a tired smile. "It was Dylan."

Mels made a face. "Oh, that asshole. You know everything he says about you isn't true right? He just doesn't get it. He doesn't understand you."

Loretta's smile brightened a little and she took her little sister's hand. "What would I do without you? You know you're the best thing that ever happened to me right?"

"Yeah, well, that's me. The best thing ever." Mel replied sarcastically for humor's sake.

Lottie grinned. Her sister had sounded just like her and she loved it. She loved that the amazing girl sitting next to her for some reason adored her. Made her feel like her life hadn't been a complete waste. "You are honestly the only good thing to ever come from Sam Bates." She said, looking back at the road.

"What about Norman?" Mellie asked, glancing at her sister. She wanted Lottie's opinion on her brother. She didn't like the boy much. He was... really weird.

Lottie sighed, trying to find a way of putting it nicely. "When Mom had Norman, she clung to him. He became a comfort object of sorts to her. She spoiled him because of it and I think it made him... unnaturally attached. I've never been a fan of him, honestly." She kept her eyes steady on the road. "He's far too prissy. But Mom loves him dearly so I put up with it. I always have. You however..." She smiled at her sister tenderly, yet teasingly. "You were always and still are my best friend, even if you are an ass."

' Mels grinned looking out the window. "I love you too, Lottie."

***

After dropping off Mels, Lottie headed home. She didn't look forward to confronting Dylan again. As much as she didn't understand him, he was her brother, her twin none-the-less. She loved him, despite his flaws and the fact they seemed to have zero in common. Her problem with him was she didn't think he loved her at all. He was always so cruel with words, especially towards their mother. She'd always defended her mother and it had driven a deeper wedge between them than the one that was already naturally there.

Her thoughts of her brother dissipated as she saw flashing blue lights ahead. Fear took hear her heart as she pulled into the parking lot and quickly jumped out of her car. She could see her mother walking back from where officers were standing. Not far in front of them was a car, crashed into the ditch across from the motel. Her mother had a worried look and, internally, that sent Lottie into a panic. "Mom? Mom are you okay? What's going on??"

Norma looked up, her face a bit pale but she smiled sadly at her daughter. "Yes, I'm fine dear. There was just... an accident. A man crashed his car right over there. He was badly burned. Apparently his warehouse was set on fire." She said, taking Lottie's arm. "You don't need to see it."

Lottie looked over her shoulder at the crashed car as her mother lead her back to the house. "Set on fire? As in intentionally?"

"Well that's what the chief thinks, but he's kind of the suspicious type anyway, the deputy didn't seem to worried about it. It may have just been a normal fire." She replied, trying to calm her daughter a little. "Are you doing anything this afternoon? Dylan is going to pick up the motel bed linens so he'll-"

Lottie interrupted. "You're giving him chores now? Does that mean he's staying?"

Norma sighed. "Yes, he's staying. Only as long as he needs to stay though." She said, looking at her daughter for a reaction.

Lottie looked down at her feet for a moment, then up at the house. "I'll try to be civil with him."   
Norma chuckled. "Well won't that be a challenge for you? But you still haven't answered my question. Are you doing anything this afternoon?"

Lottie shook her head. "Not till after Mel's gets out of school. That job I got starts tonight."

"You're working at night?" Norma asked just a tad bit suspiciously. "You know... you could always work for me at the motel."

Lottie laughed as they started up the steps to the house. "Me? A motel manager? With my impatience? That'll be the day!"

***

Mellie looked down the long row of lockers at White Pine Bay High School. Honestly, she was bored. School was kind of easy, she was smart in most subjects. There was no challenge and therefore it didn't seem necessary. She had her books and started towards where her first class was. That's when she heard the sound of steps and something rolling behind her. She turned to see a pretty girl with wavy brown hair coming up behind her. She was cute, but different, not just because of her spritely attitude, but because of the tube which went around her face, down her body, and into a canister which she was pulling. "Hey, you're new! You know where you're going, right? I can show you if you don't."

Mellie couldn't help but smile a little. The girl was so happy it was hard not to be happy too. "Yeah I know where it is, I think. But thanks." Mellie replied.

"You think? Maybe I better come just in case." the girl said, lining herself up along side Mellie. "Weird, you're the second new kid here within a few days, we don't get too many." The she chatted, before extending her hand. "I'm Emma Decody."

Mellie took her hand and smiled. "Well I'm Mellie Bates, and if by the other student you mean Norman, that's because we're siblings."

Emma made a face, "Why didn't you join up school when he did?"

Mellie thought for a moment. It was a rather long and depressing story, now that she throught of it, so she voted just to say. "It's a really long story."

Emma shrugged. "It's okay, you don't have to explain. Complicated things are complicated and you don't even know me... Yet!" She grinned.

Mellie grinned back. She liked how chill this girl was. No judgement, no unnecessary snooping into her life. She could see them being friends. As they walked up to what was Mel's classroom, the girl turned to Emma. "Well, this is my classroom."

"Great, guess you didn't need me after all! Also, want to eat lunch together? I want to get to know you."

"I get the feeling I don't have a choice in the matter."

"You don't." Emma laughed.

"Well you know what, for once I don't mind." Mellie grinned, heading into her class.

***

Candy Stick. It was a dumbass name for the crappy bar and strip club Loretta had started working at strictly as a bartender for once. Tending bar to a lot of grumpy looking bikers into the wee hours of the night was not her dream job, but it was better than most she'd had over the last four years. Anyway, it was only a few more hours and she could go home. It sounded nice, the word home. She'd never thought of any of the various flats she'd rented as home. She'd never really considered anywhere home. But now, maybe this place would be. She had hopes, though she tried to keep them on the back-burner. She was far too used to being disappointed.

She was thinking of this as she was wiping down a few glasses she'd just rinsed out. She heard someone sit down at the bar behind her and it brought her from those thoughts. Without looking up from her work, she spoke. "What can I get for you tonight?" She said it with ease.

"I don't know, maybe a slight bit of dignity?" The voice spoke and she turned.

There he sat, her twin, with the most smug looking face you'd ever see. It was infuriating. "What are you doing here?"

"I took a pit stop on the way from picking up some shit for Norma." He said, looking at his sister. "Let me guess, you strip too? I guess I'll be staying out of this place from now on then."

She eyed him carefully. "No, I'm just a bartender."

"Ah, that's a relief. I guess I can come back then." He smirked. "It'd be pretty weird to see my sister stripping. Oh, and I'll have a beer."

She narrowed her eyes as she poured him the drink out of the mere obligation to the job. "You talk to me about dignity? At least I have a job. I'm not busting my money which, supposably I don't have, on a beer in a strip club." She said with a hard and low voice. "I did what I had to for me and for Mellie. You have no right to try to shame me for that."

"Ah yeah, Mellie. Your little project." He said, sipping his beer.

"My project? What the hell does that mean?" She asked, her eyes flashing.

"Oh come on, you know exactly what I mean. You want her to be just like you. She's your Norman! You're not only a whore but a terrible mother-figure on top of that, just like Norma."

Loretta's brown eyes were stone cold as she glared into her brother's blue ones. "You wouldn't understand love or responsibility if it came up and bit you in the ass."

He shrugged, getting up to move towards the stripper pole without a word. He'd said what he wanted to, she supposed. Her eyes followed him with an icy gaze as he sat down to watch one of the girls strip. It disgusted her, so she decided to move her gaze at the clock. Soon she'd be heading home and she couldn't wait.

***

A few hours later Lottie was walking up to the door to the house. She found her mother waiting for her at the door, a look on her face that spelled trouble. As much as Lottie loved her mother, this scared the crap out of her. She knew her mother wouldn't be waiting up unless something was up. Lottie got in and started taking off her coat. Her mother didn't wait for her to be settled to start talking. "Dylan came home about an hour ago. He told me, Lottie." She said, her blue eyes flashing.

"Told you what, Mom?" Lottie said tiredly, looking at the stairs longingly. She really didn't want this right now, she just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep.

"He told me where you're working. Loretta I don't like it. You don't have to work there, you can stay here without paying rent. I don't want rent money coming from stripping."

Loretta's exhaustion got the best of her and she snapped. "I'm not stripping! I'm bartending. That's all. That's it! It I was it wouldn't fucking matter if I was anyway, it wouldn't be the first time!"

The explosion was a bit loud and caused a dreadfully long awkward silence. Norma was looking at her daughter with shocked, hurt eyes. She hated the idea of her daughter stooping to such levels just to make a few bucks. "You don't have to do that anymore." She said quietly after a few moments.

"I know that, Mom, and that's why I'm only bartending." Lottie replied softly but with a bit of warning in her voice.

"What about Mellie? Do you want her to think that that kind of work is appropriate?"

That was the last straw for Lottie. She turned on her mother, all the words her brother had said earlier and her own self-doubt surfacing into words. "I did it for Mellie, Mom! I did it so she could have better than me! I did it so she didn't have to grow up with the asshole who fathered her. I did it so she could get the education I had to drop out of. I did it so she could feel safe! I did it, Mom, so she wouldn't have to do 'that kind of work.'" Loretta yelled, starting up the stairs angrily.

"Lottie, wait!" Norma exclaimed, following.

"What??" she exclaimed, turning back to her mother.

Norma stood there, breathing for a long moment. "Just... please be careful."

"I can take care of myself, Mom. I always have." She said, the last part hitting her mother harder than the girl had intended it to.

Norma watched as her daughter retreated to her room and stood there for a moment. She'd known that her children had suffered, but tonight it seemed to hit her all at once. She slowly went back down the stairs, a tear stinging one eye. She was determined to make it up to her children in any and every way possible, especially after tonight.

***

A few minutes after hearing her mother's footsteps retreat back down the stairs, Lottie heard a little creak. She looked up quickly to see her sister slowly opening the door and peeking in. Lottie couldn't help but smile at her sister's snooping escapade. "I'm not asleep, you know."

"Shit." Mellie whispered, slipping in. She was in a black tee-shirt and sweatpants and was holding a can of energy drink. "I was coming in here to listen to you snore!" She said sarcastically.

She sat down on her sister's bed as the older girl sat up. "What is it?" Lottie asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course I am. I'm worried about you." Mel said, taking a sip of her drink. "I heard you and mom fighting."

Lottie sighed. She hated that her little sister had over heard everything. "Great. Listen, I was just tired. I snapped. I'm not really mad at Mom."

"I know that, stupid." Mellie replied. "I didn't say I was worried about Mom, I'm worried about you! You're not getting back into what you were doing before are you?" She asked with concern. "I know if you were you'd lie to Mom about it."

Lottie shook her head. "No, I wasn't lying. I'm only bartending, honestly."

Mellie looked her sister in the eye. "You know, now that we have a stable place to stay, you don't have to worry so much. You should do something for yourself for a change. Like take a class or something."

The elder sister laughed. "Me? In a class? What kind of class would I take?"

"I don't know? Cooking? Ballroom dance? I don't care honestly, you just don't get out enough. You need to take care of yourself, you know. You can't just work and sleep. You need to have some fun."

Lottie punched her sister's shoulder playfully. "Hey, I thought I was the older one here."

"Sometimes I wonder." Mellie sassed, standing up. "You deserve to treat yourself to something. You don't have to fight so much anymore, Lottie. We're safe. I'm safe."

Lottie thought for a moment about her sister's words. They'd been serious and she took them absolutely seriously. "Okay, okay, I'll think about it. But can I get some sleep please? I'm tired as fuck." She said, trying to lighten the mood. She didn't like that the little sister she'd taken care of so long was trying to take care of her now. It felt strange.

"Good. Goodnight, Lottie."

Lottie smiled and laid back down. "Goodnight, you. Sleep well."

"You know I'm not going to sleep at all, right?"

"It's the thought that counts, Mels. It's the thought that counts?"


	3. First You Take a Drink, Then the Drink Takes You

"Lottie you're drunk!"

"I'm not drunk! Now go to bed, I want to be alone!"

***

It was a couple nights later and Lottie was settled into the couch with a glass of whiskey. She'd been taking day shifts are the bar lately and she'd only just gotten home an hour before. She was tired of people so she was just sitting there, staring into nothing with the whiskey's company and her little sister in the chair nearby doing homework. Mel knew her sister well enough to leave her alone. Sometimes she just needed some quiet and tonight was one of those nights. If she didn't get quiet in moments like this... Well, hell hath no fury like Loretta Massett. Unfortunately tonight hell was about to be unleashed.

The doorbell rang and caused both girls to jump. Lottie didn't look happy in the least and Mellie knew that look. "Shit.." She whispered as her sister slowly stood up, still holding the whiskey in her hand. She approached the door, wobbling slightly, and opened it just as her mother started to come down the stairs. There at the door stood two men, both of them cops. "Who the hell are you and what do you want?" Lottie asked with annoyance.

The cop with the darker hair who was standing closest to the door looked at his fair haired partner and then back at the fuming woman before him. "I'm Sheriff Romero, this is my deputy, Shelby. We're here to see Mrs. Bates." He said this with a very even tone, glancing at the whiskey in her hand, before his squinting eyes met hers again.

"The hell do you want with my mother?" She asked, leaning against the doorframe with an air of control.

Norma came up behind her daughter. "Lottie, I can take care of this." She said. She knew Lottie's temper wasn't something to be messed with. She'd never known her daughter to be drunk before, so she didn't know how the alcohol would effect that temper. She was guessing it would make it worse, from what she was seeing now.

Lottie ignored her mother, keeping her eyes on Romero. "I said what do you want with my mother? You gonna answer, Mr. Big Sheriff?" she spit.

He sighed and looked at his partner again. "We'd like to question your mother on the disappearance of Keith Summers, the former owner of the motel."

Loretta's eyes turned to fire. "Are you accusing my mother of something? Because listen, Buster, if you think I'm gonna let you come here and accuse her of... something, you got it all wrong!"

Towards the end, her speech slurred more, the alcohol taking a deeper hold. Norma grabbed her daughter's arm. "Loretta, let me take care of this. You're drunk!"

"I am not drunk!" She huffed. "I'm not fucking drunk!"

"I tend to agree with your mother and I think before you make more of a fool of yourself, you should let the sober people do the talking, Miss Bates."

"It's Massett. Loretta Massett! There's no way in hell I am a Bates! Asshole!!"

With a flick of a wrist the situation went from bad to worse. With a quick movement, the whiskey glass in Loretta's hand sent it's contents splashing all over the sheriff. In an even quicker movement, Romero had his hand wrapped around her wrist and twisted her around. "I have had just about enough of this family." He growled, pulling out cuffs. "You'll be spending the night in jail, young lady. You're lucky you're not spending more time. You're under arrest for assaulting an officer and for drunk and disorderly conduct."

Norma's eyes widened. "Wait! Listen, I can take care of this. She won't bother you again!" She looked at her daughter who still looked just as pissed as before.

"The hell I won't!" She yelled as Mellie peeked her head around the corner.

"Lottie? What did you do now?" She sighed.

"She's drunk!" Norma said exasperatedly. "She's drunk and now she's going to jail for it! Like I don't have enough on my mind as it is!"

Lottie drunkly looked at her mother as Romero pulled her away from the door, cuffed. "What the hell else is on your mind? Me stripping? Or maybe it's you going off into the middle of the night with Norman and not telling me what the hell you did it for?" She babbled.

Norma went a bit pale at that, but went along with it. "You know what, Sheriff, I think a night in jail would do her good. You're right. Take her. I'll pick her up in the morning."

"Mrs. Bates, I still need to question you." He said, wiping his whiskey-covered face and handing off Lottie to his deputy, who seemed to be quite entertained by the whole situation.

"Fine, fine. Yes. What do you want to know?" Norma asked, losing her patience.

Romero continued to ask questions about Summers, which Norma rather unconvincingly lied to him about. He ended the session with a simple question, but it was a question that caught Norma off guard.

"Are you easily angered, Mrs. Bates?" he asked, watching her carefully.

"Easily angered? No! No, of course not! What kind of question is that?" She said, ironically in an angry tone.

"A child is often a reflection of his or her parents, Mrs. Bates. Your daughter seems quite angry."

Norma sighed softly, looking out at the police car that her daughter was currently in the back seat of. "Her anger is my fault, but not in the way you're thinking. I don't think I'm obligated to tell you my personal business, Mr. Sheriff, so if you're done, I think you should leave."

He nodded slowly and looked over the woman one more time before heading back to the car. She was lying. He was sure of that. She was a terrible liar. But he had a feeling she wasn't a killer either. Not a natural killer, that is. But, perhaps, she was forced into the role. He wasn't sure yet. What he did know was he needed to change out of this damn soaked uniform.

***

When Norma shut the door and turned, she found herself face to face with her young daughter and she did not look happy. "You just let them take her away??" She asked.

Norma sighed softly. "I didn't want to, Melody, but I don't want to get into trouble with that Sheriff. He means business and I don't trust him."

"Oh sure! That makes sense! Let the sheriff you don't trust take your daughter away!" Mel said sarcastically.

"Listen, Mellie, she did this to herself! She got drunk, she threw the drink in his face! I tried to stop her and she wouldn't listen! That's one thing the twins have in common, they don't listen." She sighed. "It's just a night in jail. She'll be fine and I'll pick her up tomorrow once you're in school. I know it's not ideal but she put me in a very tight spot."

Mellie nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess she did. Her temper gets the better of her."

Norma looked down at her daughter, concerned for a moment. "Mellie... she hasn't ever gotten angry like that at you, has she?"

Mellie's eyes widened. "No! Hell no! She doesn't get angry at me ever, Mom. And if she does, it's not like that."

Norma nodded slowly. "Good." She smiled softly at her youngest. "Now... Let's try to move past this. Do you need help with homework?"

"Nah, I finished ages ago. It was easy. However, I wouldn't mind watching a movie or something."

Norma smiled and considered the fact that she'd never really spent time with her little Mellie. "You know what, that's a great idea. You, me, and a good film. You pick the movie, I'll make popcorn."

"This is kind of horrid, having fun while Lottie's in jail."

"I'm pretty sure your sister would be happy to see you and I having some quality time. She would when she's sober, at least."

Mellie laughed a little and nodded, going to pick a movie and as Norma headed to the kitchen, her thoughts went to her other daughter. She hoped her time at the jail wouldn't be too terrible or harsh.

***

Lottie sat in the jail, sobering up. She'd been so stupid, she could barely believe it. She knew how alcohol effected her. She didn't know why she still drank enough to get drunk. She supposed when she was in a white hot anger, she wasn't thinking about all the other things that stressed her. It was cathartic in a way, but it wasn't a healthy catharsis. She sat back against the wall of the jail cell and sighed a little, but in a moment she was sitting at attention. The door to the cell creaked open and there stood the sheriff she had, only about two hours ago, showered with whiskey. In his hands, he had two white mugs. He walked over to her, offering her one. "Black coffee. Take it. It'll help."

Lottie looked at him, then at the coffee. She slowly took it and sipped it as he sat down nearby. "Feeling a little better?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. Listen, Sheriff, I'm awful sorry about all that. It was stupid and..."

He waved his hand to shut her up. "It's forgotten."

Lottie's eyes widened. "Really?" She was shocked. She never knew a cop to be nice. In fact most of the ones she'd met were complete dicks.

"I was young once and did some stupid shit." He smiled a little. "And alcohol never helped."

Lottie cracked a smile momentarily, but that faded and she looked down at her coffee. "I don't have the luxury of being stupid or making mistakes."

"And why is that?" He asked, sipping his own coffee without taking his eyes off of her.

Loretta chuckled softly. "Because I've been on my own and practically a mother since I was eighteen. There's no room for stupidity when you're raising a child."

"You're a mother?" he asked carefully.

"In a way. I'm a big sister who took my little sister's upbringing into her own hands."

He seemed intrigued. "You didn't always live with your mother?"

She shook her head. "No, my mother's husband was a psycho. As soon as I could, I left and I took Mellie, my little sister, with me. We didn't have the greatest life but it was better than what he had in store for her. I knew that from experience." She replied, looking up at the officer beside her with skeptic's eye. "Are you asking me this because you care about me? Or is this to get information on my mother? Because I can tell you my mother is a lot of things. She's gullible, she's stupid sometimes, she's a terrible liar and she has the worst taste in men... but she's not a killer, Sheriff. She lived with Sam Bates for sixteen years and didn't kill him. That in itself proves she's not a killer."

Romero soaked this in and then said one word. "Both."

"Excuse me?" Lottie asked, confused.

"I'm asking you because I want information on your mother... and because I care."

Lottie looked back at her coffee, brushing off those words quickly. She wasn't used to hearing such things. "This coffee is kind of shit, you know."

Romero cracked a small smile and looked at it. "Yeah. Yeah it kind of is."

***

Norma was beside her daughter in the car. She kept glancing at her but they were quiet. She'd just gotten Lottie out of jail and she didn't know what to expect. She didn't know if she'd be angry or what and she still wasn't sure. Lottie had just been quiet, which slightly scared Norma. She didn't know what to say, so she stayed quiet too. They had just stopped at a light in the middle of town when Lottie finally spoke and it was not something that Norma wanted to hear. "Did you kill him? Did you kill that Summers guy, mom? Please just tell me."

Norma didn't look at her daughter, she just started to drive again as soon as the light turned green. "Mom, your silence is scaring the living shit out of me."

"You want the truth, Lottie? Do you really?" She suddenly burst. "Yes, damn it! I killed him! I killed the fucker! I stabbed the shit out of him and I dumped him in the bay! And he damn well deserved to die!"

Lottie looked at her mother, eyes wide. She had hoped so much that her mother would just say no. Her mother was right. She didn't want the truth if that was indeed the truth. "Mom, why? Why the hell would you kill him?"

Norma's eyes were on fire and she pulled over the side of the road before she caused an accident. She looked at her daughter angrily and screamed at her. "He fucking raped me! He came into my goddamn house and he raped me. Do you have any idea how that makes a woman feel?"

Lottie turned bright red and screamed back at her mother. "Yes, mom. I do. Except I had to live with him! I had to live with that bastard Sam Bates!"

There was dead silence in the car except for the heavy breathing of both women. After looking her mother dead in the eye for at least half a minute, Lottie looked away because she could feel tears coming. She hated nothing more than crying in front of people, even her own mother.

Norma was stunned. She leaned back in her seat. How had she never known this? She knew Sam was an ass, even abusive... but she never guessed he did anything to that extreme. "He... He... Why didn't you tell me?"

Lottie swallowed her tears. She refused to cry. "He told me if I said anything, he'd start on Mellie. So I let him use me."

Norma closed her eyes. "Does Mellie know? Does anyone know?"

Lottie shook her head. "No. No of course not, It's too... It's too disgraceful." She said, picking at her cuticles nervously.

Suddenly Norma leaned forward and gently placed her hand on her daughter's cheek, making her look at her. "You're not a disgrace. You are my brave, strong, beautiful girl." Norma teared up as she said it, "And I don't let anyone talk about my little girl that way. Not anyone. Not even her."

Lottie couldn't do it anymore. She burst into tears. She hadn't cried in a very long time. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed. She didn't want her mother to see. She didn't want anyone to see. She hated it. She felt her mother's hands gently guide her and soon her head was on her mother's shoulder. She could hear her shushing her softly. Hands went through her hair soothingly and in no time at all, she was just breathing deeply. No more tears. Lottie looked up at her mother and could see that her face was wet as well. "Lottie, you're going to be alright now, okay? I promise."

"Mom, you killed that man.. What if they find out? What if they take you away?" Lottie asked, almost childlike in her tone.

"They won't. I won't let them. I promise... I have a plan. I won't lose you again. Or Mellie. I'm not screwing this up a second time, you hear me?"

She made her daughter look at her again. "I promise you... From now on we're going to be happy."

***

Later that night, Lottie found herself at the bar. Her mind wasn't on her work much. She was thinking about what had happened in that car. She was still processing it. Her mother was a murderer, that wasn't easy to sink in. Her mother also knew she'd been raped by Sam, something she'd never told anyone. She was so wrapped in thought that she barely even noticed the man sitting down at the bar in front of her, quietly drinking. He'd been looking her over, as though evaluating, her for quite some time. She only noticed him now because he cleared his throat to get her attention. She turned to him, putting on her fake, beer-serving smile. "Can I get you anything else, sir?"

He shook his head and handed her a credit card to pay. "No thank you, I have everything I need."

Lottie took the card and swiped it through the machine. Before giving it back, she looked at the card as she often did, just to get the name of the person she'd served. "Thank you Mr. Paris, come again."

"No, thank you miss. And don't worry, I most certainly will return."


End file.
